In a
recent article for Christianity Today titled,
A More Social Gospel, C.L. Lopez writes about a new evangelical
emphasis emerging on college campuses:

"There has been a definitive shift in how campus ministries think
about connecting with students," said Kara Powell, executive director
of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary. "More
and more campus leaders are realizing that the gospel is both personal
evangelism and justice."

The
gospel is “justice”?

If
there is any “justice” to the gospel, it is that the Lord Jesus Christ
took our “justice” on the cross to satisfy the debt we incurred in our
rebellion against God. But that’s not what “social justice” or the
“social gospel” is about.

Lopez continues:

Scott Bessenecker, associate director of missions for InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship, said students within the organization's 850
groups on 562 campuses have focused more on social causes in recent
years.

As
Mr. Bessenecker points out, their “focus” is “more on social causes”
which, frankly, is not the gospel Christians are called to proclaim.
Still, he added:

"[We] want to engage students with a Jesus who walks among the
marginalized," Bessenecker said. "InterVarsity is trying to help
students embrace and engage the social dimensions of the gospel in a
way that will inspire individuals to say, 'I want to follow this
Jesus.'"

How
many Jesus’ does Mr. Bessenecker think there are?

First of all, when one talks about the “marginalized” in general, they
are usually referring to those outside the mainstream of society. But
then, one could make the case that all minorities feel “marginalized” at
some point along life’s way, from African Americans to fundamentalist
Christians to homosexual activists to witches.

In
fact, I would dare say that most individuals have, at one time or
another, felt to some degree, “marginalized.” So, in this context,
statements like Jesus “walks among the marginalized” might have a
universal appeal and even sound compassionately Christian, but in
reality, may not be at all biblical or even relevant with respect to
repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. And that is my concern here.

Moreover, it has been my experience that whenever someone refers to
“a Jesus,” they’re probably not talking about the Jesus of
the Bible, but instead, a less scriptural and more worldly personality
that appeals to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the
pride of life” – a “Jesus” more useful in advancing earthly agendas than
those of heaven.

“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not
preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received,
or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with
him.” – 2nd Corinthians 11:4

The
social gospel and its increasingly popular “social justice” campaign is
not an acceptable substitute for preaching repentance and faith in Jesus
Christ. Its promoters all too often set aside the vertical, spiritual
and eternal issues of sin, rebellion, obedience, holiness and reverence
toward God in order to redirect the focus toward more horizontal,
physical and temporal values. In the end, the flesh is, for a time, fed
and comforted, but the souls of sinners are left abandoned to biblical
ignorance because disobedient do-gooders have spiritually sidetracked
the Church and its mission.

And
then there was this in the CT piece:

Josh Spavin, an intern with the University of Central Florida's (UCF)
Campus Crusade for Christ chapter, said traditional evangelistic
outreach still works, but times have changed with this generation.

It
“still works, but times have changed?” Sounds like dialectic doubletalk
to me – designed to carefully steer the undiscerning in a new worldly
direction without alarming or offending anyone.

The
article went on to say:

"Students tend to not just take it unless they experience it or see it
in someone else's life," Spavin said. "It is still the same gospel and
it is still the love of Christ that is being shared – it is just a
different tactic."

“For
by tactics are ye saved?” Is that what the Apostle Paul taught
in Ephesians?

The
“love of Christ” is obedience to His Word, not doing what is right in
our own eyes to “connect” with people and win their favor so they might
hopefully hear the truth someday. If we put our relationships with each
other over and above our relationship with Jesus Christ and withhold the
whole counsel of God so as not to offend, not only are we breaking the
two greatest commandments given, we are yielding to the flesh and prince
of this world.

I
would say the greatest failure of the Church today is its unwillingness
to say and do the unpopular thing. Too many Christians busy themselves
these days trying to come up with new ways of being admired and desired
by the world rather than simply being obedient to the Lord they claim to
love.

With
a self-sustaining focus on acquiring evermore results and relationships
(i.e., “church growth”) by way of pragmatism and consensus, none of
which is biblical, today’s Christians are, by and large, being persuaded
and trained week after week to embrace surveys, marketing principles,
public relations programs and people skills as their new commandments
with dialectically-trained consultants and facilitators posing as
prophets and preachers – people pleasers who know how to work the crowd
and steer the herd while selectively applying the scriptures as needed
to maintain a biblical appearance of righteousness and religiosity.

We’re essentially giving people what they want at church these days in
hopes they will reciprocate with more participation and support. How is
this “tactic” any different from those used on Wall Street and in
Washington D.C.?

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but
unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” – 1st Corinthians
1:18